A Call To Arms

The Holiday Visitors

A shout of laughter was the first
thing that woke Ginny the next morning. She blinked, bleary-eyed, and looked
around her bedroom. Snow was falling outside her window, and Arnold was rolling
around impatiently in his cage and squeaking, undoubtedly waiting for her to
get up. She picked up her watch from the bedside table; it was nearly eleven in
the morning. She sat up and rubbed her back. Then she heard the voices in the
kitchen below again, hopped out of bed, and dressed quickly before giving
Arnold his breakfast. She pulled out her violet Christmas sweater and tugged it
on, then settled him on her shoulder and hurried downstairs. Ginny stopped in
the sitting room when she realized that the voices did not belong to her
brothers at all. She crept a bit closer to the doorway, listening.

“—Wouldn’t tell us a thing,” her mother
was saying. “We both think that it has to do with that defense group that they
all started. What if she’s decided to carry it on?”

“Well, I have a hard time believing
that Ginny would really vandalize
anything, even if she did get in trouble for it,” said another familiar voice.
Ginny smiled as Lupin went on, “Snape could very easily have caught her doing
something else. He’s manipulative and intelligent, Molly, he knows that the way
to get Ginny to behave is to get you and Arthur involved.”

“You make it sound as though she ought to be causing trouble!” Mum said
in a shocked tone. “You haven’t seen her, Remus, she looks ill! I almost
thought she was going to faint right in my arms last night, she was so pale.”

“I only think that Ginny is perfectly
able to assess a situation and act accordingly,” said Lupin calmly. “It’s a
trait she’s picked up not only from her friends and brothers, but from her
parents. And as for her appearance, her friend was kidnapped right in front of
her. She’s been through a great deal in the last few days.” There were a few
beats of silence. “Molly, if you’re sure that something is seriously wrong and
want to know what’s happened to her, why don’t you ask?”

There was a snort of laughter, and
Ginny stifled a gasp.

“Remus, I hope we have a daughter so
you can learn exactly how sixteen-year-old girls act when their parents try to
question them,” Tonks chuckled. “Advanced Interrogation Systems performed by
highly-trained Aurors wouldn’t get a thing out of Ginny. Ouch—”

“Drink your tea,” Mum said. She
sounded as though she had gotten up and walked away from the table. “It helps,
really.”

Mum’s voice sounded from the far side
of the kitchen, near the scullery. “Remus, have you got that wolfsbane? It’s
ready…”

It was Tonks who answered. “I’ve got
it, I’m coming, Molly.” There was the scrape of a chair and the sound of Tonks’
departure.

It seemed that they were done
discussing her, so Ginny straightened up and walked into the kitchen. Lupin sat
at the far end of the table, perusing a newspaper with a breakfast plate in
front of him. Two more places sat around him, each with just a cup of tea. He
looked up when Ginny walked in. “Well, good morning,” he said cheerfully. He
was grayer and thinner than ever, and his robes were practically worn through
in places, but he was smiling as he got up and hugged her.

“Morning,” she said, smiling. “When
did you get here?”

“Tonks and I are coming for Christmas,
and so is her mother,” Lupin explained. “Your m—well, we wanted to settle in a
bit early.” Ginny frowned, but at that moment, Mum walked in, carrying a mug of
something that was steaming and giving off a terrible smell.

“Oh, thank you, Molly,” Lupin said,
taking it from her. He took a large swig, grimaced, and looked at Ginny.
“Wolfsbane Potion,” he explained. “It’s the full moon. I’m afraid I won’t be
staying here tonight. Er—Molly, where’s—?”

“The smell didn’t agree with Tonks’s
stomach,” Mum said lightly, kissing Ginny’s cheek and steering her into a
chair. A shadow of something—sadness?—fluttered across Lupin’s face for a
moment. Then he sat down, pushing the newspaper towards Ginny.

“I don’t expect you’ve seen many of
those recently?” he asked, taking a sip of his potion.

Ginny grinned. “How did you know?”

“Professor McGonagall,” Lupin said.
“I’ve been bringing her news, when I can.”

“You’ve been around Hogwarts?” Ginny
asked. “I—I didn’t know that.”

“Well, I could hardly contact you,” he
told her, and she nodded. “Minerva says Snape has you all under lock and key. I
could feel the dementors at the edge of Hogsmeade.”

Ginny shrugged as her mother placed a
heaping plate of bacon and eggs in front of her. “It’s not so bad,” she lied,
taking a bite. Mum and Lupin were both watching her closely, but she was
determinedly avoiding their eyes as she fed Arnold a bit of egg. “So you’re
staying for Christmas?” she asked Lupin. He smiled slightly and nodded.

“Andromeda—that’s Tonks’s mother,
we’ve been staying with her—will be up tomorrow with your brothers, as I
understand it,” he said, looking to Mum, who nodded. There were a few moments
of silence, during which he frowned in the direction of the sitting room.
“Perhaps I ought to go look after her…”

“I’m fine, Remus, what have you two
been telling her?” Ginny turned. Tonks, sporting her favorite bright pink hair
and faint dark circles beneath her eyes, leaned in the doorway, beaming.

And she was pregnant.

“Tonks! Merlin’s pants!” Ginny cried.

She laughed again. “Wotcher, you,” she
said, holding out one arm.

Ginny hurried to hug her. “Look at
you!” she gasped. Tonks grinned, rubbing her very round belly. Lupin had gotten
to his feet as well and approached her, saying, “Your tea’s getting cold. Are
you all right?” Tonks made a face at him but settled herself into a chair and
took a gulp of tea.

“This is so exciting,” Ginny
exclaimed, sitting down again. “When are you having the baby?”

“April,” said Tonks, picking up
Lupin’s hand. “We’re thrilled.”

“Maybe you’ll have a bit more success
in getting her to take it easy than I’ve had,” Lupin said pointedly, though he
too was smiling.

“It’s difficult, with so few members,”
Lupin explained. “Tonks here can’t do much—” Tonks whacked his arm— “I’m being
watched closely by Greyback’s pack…your family has to tread carefully. And with
Kingsley gone—”

And all at once, Tonks clapped a hand
over Ginny’s mouth, Mum shrieked, and Lupin roared, “NO!”

Ginny stared up at him, eyes wide and
heart hammering. Tonks’s hand was still clamped firmly over her mouth. Arnold
had tumbled down behind Ginny’s back and was wriggling around with muffled
squeaks. Mum had upset her tea as she leapt up with her wand drawn, just like
Lupin’s. They all seemed to be waiting for something. Seconds stretched into
minutes, and when nothing happened, Tonks released her.

“You cannot say that name, Ginny,” she said weakly, massaging her heart
as she sank back in her chair.

Mum looked sharply at Lupin, who was
just sitting down. He waved his wand, clearing up the spilled tea. “I think
that’s quite enough of all that.”

“It’s had a Taboo placed on it,” Tonks
explained. She looked very white, but leaned across the table at took Ginny’s
hand. “Kingsley is fine, but he’s on the run. That’s how they got him. We
didn’t know they put the Taboo down until Death Eaters turned up in his flat.”

“It’s all right,” Lupin assured her.
He drank the last of his potion and grimaced, then stood up. “Well, Molly, you
said you had some chores I could help you with.”

Mum smiled. “Would you bring in our
tree? It’s just outside. And I think there are some boxes I need from the
attic. I’ll go and find them.” She stopped, putting a hand on Ginny’s shoulder.
“No more Order talk, all right? Make sure you clear your plate, sweetheart, and
then I’ll need your help decorating,” she added, kissing Ginny’s head.

And Ginny and Tonks were alone. Tonks
sighed, leaning back, and smiled at her. “Had a good term?” Ginny frowned,
arching one eyebrow, and Tonks snorted. “Well, at least you get to start
Apparition next one.” Ginny gave a noncommittal shrug. She had the distinct
impression that she was being subjected to one of Tonks’s thoroughly
disconcerting observational interrogations. She had once told Ginny that she
could draw more information out of an unwilling source by simply staring at
them for a few minutes than they could tell her in an hour.

“Look,” Ginny said at last, when she
could stand no more of her scrutiny, “Can you tell Mum not to be so worried
about me? What’s happening at school…happens. No one can do anything about it, and
I just really want to enjoy being home, you know? I don’t want to spend every
waking minute talking it over and over.”

“I thought you might’ve been listening
to us,” Tonks said shrewdly.

“Will you tell her?” Ginny pressed.
“She’ll listen to you.”

Tonks leaned her elbows on the table.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Ginny scooped Arnold off her shoulder and
letting him scamper around her palms. She did not look up for several minutes. Then
Tonks sighed. “You know, Ginny, you and I are quite a bit alike,” she said.
“And so are our mothers, in some ways. You’re only going to make her more
anxious by bottling up whatever’s hurting you so badly right now, because I
know something is—and so does she.”

“Ginny!”

She started. “Coming, Mum! I—er—I’m
going to go help.”

Tonks nodded. “I’ll be along in a
minute.”

For the rest of the day, Ginny made
sure that she was as upbeat and busy as she could possibly be. She volunteered
for every task her mother brought up. Lupin and Tonks strung garlands of golden
crystal bubbles all across the house, illuminating every corner with a soft,
glowing light. Smells of mince pies and baking tarts wafted through the house
as her mother started her cooking. Ginny tied mistletoe and holly wreaths along
the stairs, wrapped and labeled Christmas presents, and even put up the tree
with Lupin’s help. Her mother turned on the Wizarding Wireless Network and
music played through the whole house. Ginny could feel her spirits lifting as
she, Lupin, and Tonks laughed and chatted, festooning the house with copious
amounts of red, gold, and green.

It was a wonderful day, but Lupin left
around the time it started getting dark, and Ginny immediately noticed Tonks
beginning to slow down. At half-past seven, Ginny was standing on the second floor
landing, attaching golden baubles to the rail, when she looked down to the
sitting room below and saw Tonks suddenly sink onto the couch, as though her
knees had given out.

“I’m fine, Molly, I promise,” she
insisted, getting to her feet and heading for the stairs. “I’ll feel better if
I sleep.”

Mum looked worried nonetheless. “Up one,
dear, the last door.” When Tonks had disappeared, she sighed. “Come on, Ginny.
Dinner.” She gave one backward glance at Tonks’s bedroom as she hurried
downstairs, but followed her mother obediently into the kitchen and sat down.
For one of only a few times in Ginny’s memory, she and Mum were the only people
at the table. The sight of so many unfilled places gave her a rather empty
feeling inside, but she had no time to dwell on it; her mother was serving her
a large plate of her favorite meal, chicken and ham pie.

“Thanks, Mum,” she said happily.

“You look like you haven’t eaten
properly in weeks,” her mother answered, laying a napkin in her own lap. “Does
Neville look as hungry as you?”

Ginny smiled, albeit a bit tightly.
“We’re fine,” she promised. “Just a busy term, you know how it is.”

Mum dropped her fork with a clatter.
“No, Ginny, I’m afraid I don’t.” Ginny stared at her, startled at her harsh
tone. Mum seemed to silently struggle with herself for a moment. Then she spoke
calmly. “You’ve been avoiding my eyes and everyone else’s since you arrived
home. You jump at the smallest noises, and you’re putting on a very brave show
for the rest of us, but you don’t have me convinced.”

“Mum, I—”

“I know that there’s not much I can do
for you when you’re at school,” she continued. “And I’m sorry about Luna, but
you have to tell me if you’re hurt, sweetheart, because I can’t stand not
knowing what’s wrong with—with my—” Suddenly, she stood and walked over to the
stove and set the teakettle to boil. Ginny watched her, unable to speak. Then
she came to sit down again, and when she spoke her voice was much more
controlled. “I’m sorry, sweet pea. Your father and I…all we ever want to do is
protect you. You know that, don’t you?”

Ginny nodded. “You and Dad have to
know that if I thought you could somehow fix everything for me, I would let
you. But you can’t do anything, so you have to just trust me.”

Mum stroked her hair. “I can’t stand
seeing you like this.” She pulled Ginny into a hug.

“It—it’ll all be over soon,” Ginny
said quietly, swallowing a lump in her throat. “It has to be. Everything will
be okay again.”

“Of course it will,” her mother
whispered. She gave a great sniff and released Ginny, turning back to her
plate. “Eat your dinner, sweetheart.”

The kitchen was silent for several
minutes, but for the sounds of scraping cutlery. “So…erm…is Tonks all right?”
Ginny asked at last.

Mum nodded, seeming grateful for the
change of topic. “She’ll be all right. She’s having a difficult time of it, but
that just happens, sometimes,” she said. “We’re all trying to help her,
but…she’s like you,” she said, patting Ginny’s hand. “She likes to take care of
herself.”

Ginny blinked, staring at the
tabletop. She understood at last; her mother wanted someone to worry about. With Ron missing, and Percy still
refusing to speak to their family, all Mum wanted was a good reason to fuss
over somebody, and for some reason, Ginny couldn’t quite repress a grin. So,
after a couple of minutes, she spoke. “You know, Mum, I…uh….I hurt my back,”
she said softly.

Mum actually smiled just a bit, and
Ginny’s heart lightened as she said, “I’ll see what I can do for you.” There
was a sudden knock at the kitchen door, and Mum got up, approaching the kitchen
door with her wand in hand. “Who is it?”

“It’s Arthur,” said Dad’s tired voice
from the other side. He must have had a stressful day, for he was being a bit
sarcastic, “And I have no greater desire on this wide earth than to find out
what makes airplanes stay up. I’d also really like a plate of whatever you’ve
made that smells so good, Molly.” Ginny snorted as Mum opened the door and Dad
staggered inside. He looked exhausted, and dropped into the other chair beside
Ginny’s.

“Hi, Gin,” he mumbled, patting her
head like a dog as Mum served him a plate. “Had a good day?”

She smiled. “It was fine. We decorated
the house.”

Dad nodded. “I saw Fred and
George—they’re coming home tomorrow morning, Molly, with Charlie, and they’ve
agreed to pick up Andromeda, as well.”

“Reckon I’ll hang up the last of the
decorations and go to sleep early. I’m sort of tired out,” she said. “Night,
Dad—Mum.”

“I’ll bring you some hot chocolate,”
Mum promised, and Ginny gave a brief wave to indicate that she had understood
before hurrying through the sitting room and up the stairs to her bedroom. She
paused on the landing; Bill’s door, the room that Tonks and Remus were sharing,
was propped open slightly.

Ginny went quietly to the room and
peered in. Tonks lay curled on her side atop the blankets on the bed, holding
her belly protectively. She appeared to be asleep, so Ginny made to shut the
door.

She nodded. “I just wanted to see how
you were. D’you want…tea…or something?”

Tonks gave a faint chuckle. “I’m fine,
thanks. Come and sit with me for a minute.”

Ginny did so, perching herself on the
bed, and Tonks sat up with some difficulty against the headboard—she seemed to
be a bit dizzy. “You know, the idea of having a baby is really brilliant,” she
observed sleepily. “But I’m not sold on the part where you’re waiting for it to
arrive.”

Ginny smiled. “Well, speaking as
someone who has absolutely zero experience with babies, I think you’re going to
be just fine.”

“Ah, that’s right, you’re the
youngest,” Tonks said, shaking her head. “No good. I should be talking to Bill
about this.”

“Well, he’ll never steer you wrong,”
Ginny snorted.

Tonks was quiet for a moment, gently
rubbing her belly. “You know, I’m sorry about earlier,” she said quietly. “I
shouldn’t have tried to guilt you into telling us what’s going on at Hogwarts.
It’s just that I don’t think I’ve ever seen you unhappy before.”

Ginny rubbed the back of her neck. “I
know I’m not myself…but the rest of you aren’t normal, either,” she said. “And
I understand why, really I do. Things are absolutely mad right now. There’s a
part of me that doesn’t even want to ask about everything that’s happened while
I’ve been gone. I…I just wish that…you could all see that a lot has happened to
me, too. It’s complicated,” she sighed heavily.

“And just because you’re younger than
us doesn’t mean you should be treated like a child,” Tonks agreed. “You’d
rather we let your troubles alone, not fix them for you.”

“I’d appreciate that, yeah,” Ginny
chuckled.

“Oh, there’s a real smile,” Tonks answered. “I’ve been looking for one.
I was ready to pull out my pig’s snout for you.” She paused for a moment. “I
don’t know how much you heard of what your mum said this morning, Ginny, but it
all comes from a place of love. Dumbledore used to say, ‘actions born of love
rarely do us harm.’” Ginny nodded, looking down at the floor. “You know,” Tonks
said slowly, after a long stretch of silence. “I know a thing or two about
this, so I feel comfortable saying it.”

“It’s all right,” she promised. “I
think you’d be hard-pressed to find somebody who doesn’t miss Harry. But the two of you were different. Am I right?”

“I miss Ron and Hermione, too,” Ginny
mumbled. “Not just him.” Her chin trembled, but she forced herself to regain
control. “Ever since Luna…it’s just really difficult to—to keep wanting to
fight back, knowing that there’s a good chance I might not see her, or Harry,
or Ron, Hermione—any of them—again. Any of my brothers, my parents…I mean, what
if this is my last Christmas with them? I can’t keep doing this forever, I
can’t keep trying to stay on my feet and just hope that everything is okay when
I know that it probably won’t be.”

Tonks smiled, though she was blinking
rapidly. “It’s all right to feel that way,” she promised, taking Ginny’s hand.
“But I need you to listen to me for a moment, Ginny, and listen carefully,
because I had to learn this the hard way. Whatever you’re doing at school,
whatever you’ve done that’s got Snape so scared that he’s trying to frighten
you out of doing it, then you need to keep going, no matter what. Miss Harry
all you want, ask every ‘what if’ question in the world if you have to, but so
help me, I will—” she gave a broken laugh, “—I will come up to that school
myself if I even get wind of the idea that you might just give up.”

Ginny stared at her.

“What counts most right now is that we
hold onto the things that have made us happy and that keep us moving forward.
Even if those things are gone, we still have to find ways to keep going. For me
and Remus, the baby is our proof that life is going to go on.” Tonks sighed.
“You saw your friend get kidnapped, and I can’t blame you for being frightened.
Hogwarts is…well, it’s almost gone, and I can’t blame you for wanting to be
home, either, where you can be sure your family is safe, just for a little
while. But I think Harry would be unbelievably proud of what you’ve weathered
in the last few months, and what you’re still going to fight through. Because
whatever he’s doing, wherever he’s gone, it’s for all of us, and that needs to be what keeps you going.
Do you understand me?”

Slowly, Ginny nodded, and Tonks smiled
faintly. She brought Ginny’s hand to rest on the side of her belly.

“Merlin’s pants,” Ginny whispered. She
felt a sudden, overwhelming rush of love for the little flutter that kicked and
stirred beneath her fingers.

“See? The baby wants to let you know
that you’re going to be okay,” said Tonks, smiling. “You will, you know. You’ll
be all right,” she said. “I promise. Oof—” She laughed as Ginny suddenly hugged
her, and pulled back, smiling sheepishly as she rubbed her round belly. “Trust
me, you don’t want me to be sick on you.”

“Excuse you, I’ll be getting my own beauty sleep,” Ginny answered
loftily, turning her nose in the air. Then she paused at the door, looking back
at the shadowy form curled in the bed, illuminated only by cold, grayish
moonlight streaming through the window. “Er—thanks, Tonks.”

She smiled. “Go to bed, Ginny.”

“Oh, spoken like a true mother,” Ginny
teased, and she ducked, shutting the door just as Tonks flung a pillow at her
head. On the landing, she ran into her mother, who was carrying a steaming mug
of hot chocolate and looked as though she were on her way up to get ready for
bed.

“Oh! Here, darling, I was just
bringing this to you,” Mum said. “I put a little something in it to help you
relax, it should make your back feel a bit better if it’s hurting you. I use it
all the time. If it doesn’t work, you come and wake me straightaway, I’ll find
something else.”

Ginny smiled, knowing that she would do no such
thing. “Thanks, Mummy,” she said, kissing her cheek. “Good night.” Her mother
looked a little bemused as Ginny, humming slightly, took her chocolate and
slipped into her bedroom.

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